THE CITY REBORN FROM THE ASHES OF AMERICA'S MOST DISASTROUS FOREST FIRE

Oconto Falls Dominates...Again!

It is getting to sound like a broken record, but the Oconto Falls Panthers own the Peshtigo Wrestling Invitational lock, stock and barrel.

Ranked number three in the latest state polls, Oconto Falls flexed its mat muscle and claimed 9 individual titles to sew up team honors for the 7th straight year with 278.5 points.

Bonduel, a late entry to the 8-team tournament field, was second at 204.5 followed by Escanaba 179, Crivitz 142, Peshtigo 121, Wabeno-Laona 87, Marinette 67 and Menominee 66.5.

Not only did Oconto Falls take home the team hardware, but both individual awards as well. Dewey Krueger, a talented 132 pounder who sports a plush 27-0 readout and is ranked number one in the state, was named the most valuable wrestler while John Kamps earned the pinners award with five tourney pins.

Krueger and Kamps join four-time tournament winners Mitchell Friedman (27-0) at 145 pounds and Purdue University-bound Jacob Morrissey (27-0) in the 170 bracket. Morrissey is the second member of his family to achieve the 4-year title run as brother Cullan accomplished the feat from 2007-10.

The talented Krueger required a total of 2:59 to record 4 pins before posting a 9-3 decision over Chris Briar of Menominee in the finals.

Friedman used five pins to make his way to the top step of the medal stand, the quickest coming in a 56 second workout over Jed Nelson of Crivitz.

Quite possibly the most impressive grappler in the tournament, Morrissey registered five pins, all coming under a minute. Morrissey overpowered Brendon Scheunke of Escanaba in 0:59, Josh Samsa 0:51, George Beattie of Crivitz in 0:34, Ryan Thill of Marinette in 0:41 and Jacob Wudtke of Bonduel in the finals 0:56.

Not to be outdone, Kamps put in 208 seconds of work on the tournament mats during his 5 pin performance.

The quickest pin for Kamps came over Peyton Boyce of Marinette (0:25), followed by 43 seconds over Trevor Homan of Bonduel, 47 seconds over Cory Chenier of Escanaba and Peshtigos Mike Gable and capped by a title winning 0:46 effort over Dan Tomaszewski of Crivitz.

Other champions for the Panthers were Gunnar Leisner (22-3) in the 113 class, Sam Konitzer (21-4) at 120, Brett Ash (18-1) at 126, Mike Zeitler (13-3) at 195 and Keith Styczynski (21-3) at heavyweight.

Marinettes lone title went to Jaden Boivin at 160 pounds with a 4-win effort after finishing as the runner-up the past two years. Now 22-1 on the season, Boivin used a first round bye, beat Austin LuMaye of Oconto Falls 11-1, won over a disqualified Roberto Santos of Crivitz, topped Alec Slaga of Escanaba 11-2 before pinning Justin Brilinski of Menominee for the championship in 1:46.

Menominees other second place finisher was Briar (27-3) at 132 pounds.

Crivitz got a second place finish from Joe Rodriguez in the 220 pound class. Rodriguez (20-5) registered a trio of pins before getting put on his back by champion Joey Tauchen of Bonduel (27-2) in 4:52.

Third place finishers for Crivitz were Dustin McNamer 113, Danny Tomaszewski 182 and Zach Timblin 285.